New Zealand shooting: White supremacist Brenton Tarrant likely to be locked up in solitary confinement ‘for his own safety’, says criminologist

The terror accused who killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch will be ‘highly unpopular’ in a prison where 80 per cent of the inmates are not white, said a New Zealand criminology professor

New Zealand has no death penalty and Brenton Tarrant is expected to face a record prison sentence if found guilty of the massacre

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Terror-accused Brenton Tarrant appears in the Christchurch District Court. Photo: New Zealand Herald

Published: 10:29am, 20 Mar 2019Updated: 8:34am, 22 Mar 2019

A white supremacist who gunned down 50 Muslims in a twin mosque attack is likely to spend a lifetime behind bars and in isolation for his own safety, said a New Zealand criminologist and former convict on Wednesday.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, was charged with one count of murder a day after the well-planned massacre which sent shock waves across the nation.

“He is going to be very highly unpopular in a prison where 80 per cent (of inmates) are Maori or Pasifika [Pacific islanders] and he is a white supremacist,” said Greg Newbold, a professor of criminology at Canterbury University. “He will have no friends, not even the white guys.”

New Zealand media already have quoted members of a notorious criminal biker gang as saying “we’ve got friends inside”, suggesting they would get to Tarrant if they had the chance.

People mourn near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch. Photo: Kyodo

New Zealand has no death penalty and Tarrant is expected to face a record prison sentence if found guilty of the slaying.